[women-rights] Annan offers concrete proposals to address devastation wrought by conflict on women

ANNAN OFFERS CONCRETE PROPOSALS TO ADDRESS DEVASTATION WROUGHT BY CONFLICT 
ON WOMEN
New York, Oct 21 2002  1:00PM

Seeking to address the disproportionate impact of violent conflict on women 
and girls, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has submitted a series of concrete 
proposals aimed at protecting their rights to the Security Council for 
adoption.

In a report to the Council released today, the Secretary-General points to 
the many ways that war particularly harms women, beyond death and injury. 
These include exacerbating existing inequalities, sending women and 
children fleeing across borders, and subjecting them to sexual violence and 
torture. At the same time, Mr. Annan stresses that, "Women play an active 
role in informal peace processes, serving as peace activists, including by 
organizing and lobbying for disarmament and striving to bring about 
reconciliation and security before, during and after conflicts."

The Secretary-General says the extent of human rights violations against 
women and girls must be factored into peace support operations, and 
recommends that contacts be set up with women's networks in order to gain 
more information on the issue.

Concerning the legal dimensions of the problem, Mr. Annan urges the Council 
to call on all parties involved in conflict to adhere to their obligations 
under applicable principles of international humanitarian law, human rights 
law and refugee law as they pertain to women and girls. Efforts should be 
made to ensure that amnesty provisions included in conflict settlement 
agreements exclude impunity from all serious war crimes, including 
gender-based crimes.

Mr. Annan also recommends that the Council explicitly integrate gender 
perspectives into the terms of reference of UN missions to countries and 
regions in conflict. He says that all UN-brokered peace accords should 
address the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, their 
contributions to peace processes and their needs and priorities in the 
post-conflict context. Women should also be fully involved in peace 
negotiations.

The report suggests that the Council ensure resources for setting up gender 
units in peacekeeping operations. Efforts aimed at reconstructing 
conflict-torn societies should incorporate activities focused on specific 
constraints facing women and girls. Urging recognition of the impact of 
armed conflict and displacement on family relations, Mr. Annan calls for 
developing develop programmes to prevent domestic violence.

"We can no longer afford to minimize or ignore the contributions of women 
and girls to all stages of conflict resolution, peacemaking, 
peace-building, peacekeeping and the reconstruction processes," the 
Secretary-General cautions. "Sustainable peace will not be achieved without 
the full and equal participation of women and men."